It wasn’t exactly an impressive start to the Steve Wojciechowski era of Marquette basketball, as his Golden Eagle struggled to a 38-30 halftime lead over the UT-Martin Skyhawks in the team’s home opener.
Sophomore Deonte Burton leads the team with 10 points, while Jajuan Johnson chimed in with nine points, three steals, two rebounds and a block.
Marquette’s lack of size was exploited early, as the Skyhawks pulled down a 20-15 advantage on the glass. Junior Steve Taylor logged only 10 minutes and scored four points with four rebounds.
The Golden Eagles were countering UT-Martin’s rebounding ability with some impressive shooting early in the half, went cold in the closing minutes of the half. Marquette shot 13-of-28 from the field and 4-of-12 from 3-point range.
Marquette does have an advantage in the turnover department and forced 10 Skyhawk turnovers. Every player except sophomore guard John Dawson logged at least 10 minutes in the opening half of the season. Wojciechowski constantly shuffled players in and out of the lineup, but the starters were Sandy Cohen, Juan Anderson, Taylor, Matt Carlino and Johnson. Cohen became the first player since Vander Blue in 2010 to start his first game of his freshman season.
Marquette will need some better post presence if they want to pull away from the Skyhawks. The team also has not hit a shot from outside of the paint since the 12-minute mark.
